Miss Universe 1952 Armi Kuusela in the 2011 MU Tribute Video- in a Terno!

I have no intention of turning this into a missosology-inspired blog. But given that the moment I downloaded Miss Universe 2011 intomy laptop fate decided that the file play about a dozen times with a dozen of my friends in the first two days alone...



It was then I noticed that during the trip down memory lane in tribute to MU pageant turning 60 this year (I mean, come on... how many times can you go over memory lane when you do it every year- I'll need to confirm that though- MU devotees anyone?) that the picture they chose for then Armi Kuusela looked suspiciously Filipino-inspired.

Armi Hilario-Williams (former Kuusela) in the MU 2011 tribute to history

A Terno! Interesting picture I might add, because it's what they chose, intentional or not. So it got me sidetracked searching for some more interesting pictures over the internet. The one I found that I liked best came from this web post back in 2005 (reference: http://www.missfloridausa.com/Faces-Places/Faces-Places50.htm

Armi Kuusela-Hilario from Finland, married to a Filipino and a long-time resident of the Philippines greeted the President of the Philippines that time Elpedio Quirino. Together with her is Miss Philippines 1951 Teresita Villareal. 

At first my interest got piqued by the clothing she wore, and I must say I've never seen a Terno carried so well by a foreigner. So that's that for my MU Trivia, she was all but filipino at heart for a time, but of course It had to go just a little farther jsut to satisfy my curiosity.

 So a few other things- She wanted to become an athlete before winning the Ms. Universe Title, which she never did because of her duties. Met and married Virgilio Hilario in Tokyo, Japan 3 weeks shy of the end of her reign (which means she had to give up her crown right?). And she always thought she would live a life of quiet as a wife but instead moved around society circles because of her "duties" as a wife. Interesting how she always wanted the simple things but ended up doing the exact opposite.

One more thing-Back when she lived in the Philippines, she lived in Forbes park at the fitting "Millionaires Street". Alive at 77, she lives in La Joya, California which means "jewel" in Spanish with her husband Albert Williams. Interesting right?

A living legend. Proud that she treasures her time in the Philippines (she has a son Mikko Hilario living here). And so ends my curiosity.

To read up about her you can check her article out on http://www.missosology.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=100369
And her message interview to the Philippine Star http://www.hatawbeauties.com/2008/07/message-from-armi-williams-former.html

Ciao!

The 2011 Miss Universe - Congratulations, Adulations, Online Catfights and... OPRAH?!

 

 

After the 2010 Ms. Universe, I was thinking the Philippines would have been hard-pressed to follow such a dazzling performance from Maria Venus Raj. Sure we were hoping for more- we always are. But dang did that girl made me marvel like no one else, and she did her best. I was set, she'd be a tough act to follow.

When Shamcey came up wearing the Bb. Pilipinas-Universe Crown, all I could think of was: odd name, too pretty, where's the pinay factor? Is she even going to make it to a finalist spot?

So when we found that she was part of the early delegation, my heart settled, this was from Jim, whose one of those people who proclaim themselves devotees of the Ms. Universe pageant- politics, inner workings and all, made it perfectly clear that being an early delegate ensures a finalist spot. Proven theory time and again especially during Venus Raj's time.  I wasn't as excited as I should have been when her name got called.

Hope grew as she got called, time and again, "It's coming" I told myself as- bags of chips consumed and soda cans empty I was left holding on to my seat when the Question and answer portion came... her answer?

"If I'm going to change my religious belief, I will not marry the person that I love because the first person I love is God who created me and I have my faith and principles and this what makes me who I am. And if that person loves me? He should love my God first."

I was ecstatic. I was proud and dancing to a jig and I have to admit that for one moment the hopelessly optimistic side of me was hoping... against hope that we bag the crown this time, such that I was bitterly crestfallen, though smiling and applauding (to myself) when Shamcey was crowned 3rd runner up, a notch higher than last year's. In my book, that chalks up to a win.

I went back to sleep after waiting a few hours to download the footage. If you have Utorrent or anything like that you can download it here:

Ms Universe 2011 HDTV

Then comes of course the slew of comments- being the only candidate to answer without an interpreter obviously becoming the hot topic and why she should have won, and the catfights... AND the racist talk everyone could do without.

It was a really pleasant surprise to have the Queen of talk Oprah Winfrey HERSELF making such a bold statement going directly AGAINST the decision- taken from NBC News:

"I have reservations with the results. If the only basis is the Q and A portion, after having been trimmed down to 5, Ms. Philippines deserved to win. What made her different from the rest is that she had no seconds to rethink of her answer as she had no interpreter to break the ice. The rest had their interpreters and having breaks on seconds to think about their answers. Hands down, Ms. Philippines answered straight to the point."

Nevertheless- Congratulations to Ms. Universe 2011 Ms. Angola Leila Lopes. To the ladies who gave heart, mind and soul for what they believe in- worthy causes- and of course for all of the Pageant Connoisseurs- Where would they be without you.

Remember, remember the 11th of September

Who would have thought that 10 years ago today... tragedy would strike - the likes of which remain unparalleled and quite literally changed America and the world.

I doubt if anyone would say they can hardly remember it by now, heck I can still remember my reaction from when I saw it on the news; the few moments of confusion when you're trying to make sense of what I'm seeing on television... this picture I found might be the actual footage I was watching that time...

Movie Trailer? Everyone thought so too...

And one of the first things that went through my mind was "Oh my God it's real..." and in that numb, irritatingly dispassionate way I always have of analyzing things, I sat down and started processing scene after scene of disaster. Interestingly enough, one of the first things that actually went in my head was - 'It doesn't look too different from a CG SFX" - I always thought if the ridiculous end-of-world scenes would happen in real life... guess CG animators were really doing a great job then, told you I had a screwed up perspective.

I found this memorial video.

9/11 Memorial Video

Around the world people reacted with anger, compassion, regret, anguish, courage, hope, resignation. A decade later people are still standing in the blight of it's aftermath, albeit dressed and turned into a symbol of strength as opposed to a scar of terrorism. Surprisingly I find myself thinking which part of me wishes the events of that fateful day never happened? And the part, knowing when wishes are folly, struggles to bear that such evil could exist and could have been any one of us?

And what about the part that agrees that things happen, good or terrible, and just takes comfort in the fact that humanity shows their tenacity and resilience in times of great crisis, breaks down self-erected barriers and unites factions and eradicates differences.

after all at the end of the day we're all just frightened children left alone in a world floating in an endless void... who else do we hold on to but each other?

Graveyard VS Daybreak, and why the REAL WORLD didn't work for me... pt 1

So Here I Am, playing with those mem'ries again...one year from saying good bye to the Corporate BPO world. This time seemed perfect to sit down and write about the things that have been going on. Perhaps I'll be reminiscing about it in later posts... but for now- A summary.

7 years in one company may not sound at all too hot on a professional resume. But lemme tell you that the story is a whole lot different when you came from the BPO industry, to put it in numbers, this paints a picture of what that would be:

• 1,848 days of being up all night while the rest of the world was blissfully asleep.
• 5,544 cups of coffee taken during work hours just to keep you up all through the night
• 126 holidays missed... Or in my case 122, I did get to celebrate a few new year's eve holidays at home because I traded off Christmas due to my religion.
• About a thousand days of lost sleep because the world of course is ignorant about keeping quiet when you're the one trying to get some shut-eye.
• The eye bags... I'm thankful I didn't have to suffer it (thanks again mom and pop for the genes) but it's common enough to say I would've suffered it should I have been prone to it.
• 1 out of 3 fifteen-minute breaks spent staring off into space, waiting for your cigarette to go out before groaning and hitching your ass back to your desk. 

-  But there are some things unique to working in the industry that puts an invisible mark on your forehead that marks you as Graveyard shift personnel.

• The novelties of going home drunk in broad daylight because payday gimik happens to be a Thursday morning.
• Blissfully ignoring traffic news because you're NEVER in the direction of the heavy traffic.
• Having to endure stares because you're all dressed up in the middle of the night while everyone else is tucking away ties and rolling up sleeves.
• Worse, you got a spanking new jacket that everyone admires at work but earns you not a few what-is-he-thinking look from people who've never worked in the sub-zero temperatures BPO centers seem to favor.
• Being the first of a new breed of people who demand to speak to the manager when their fries aren't hot off the grill or when the cashier looks at them funny.
• The more you keep quiet about your job, the more people seem to ask "Sa Call Center ka ba?" hence leading me to believe that we do, actually, have that mark.

But working during the day has been a surprising but NOT at all refreshing culture shock... One of the very first things that didn't go right when I packed up my bags for a brand new day in a daytime job (In my head I was prancing around and singing "Good Morning Baltimore!!!")


THE MRT - it wasn't that I never had bad moments working graveyard, but everyday bad moments?!

• People say it's a constant struggle to get to work, but no one ever said that it's getting into the MRT that makes up 90% of the struggle. Pack light, stay thin and have nerves of steel when
• I find myself tucking my perfume in my bag since you never know when being squished against 4 or 5 peoples shirts so hard in the MRT would end up you coming out wearing all their perfumes a
• That given enough people trying to get in turns the train door entrances into a sort of walkalator- you can actually get in without having to use your own feet!
• That there's an air of magic to the carriage when you see a seemingly jam-packed train coming in... two people alighting and surprisingly accommodates six more.
• The most dangerous situation to find yourself in is to be the lone person alighting from said jam-packed train with 50 people wildly trying to get in.
• Fist fights occur in the trains during rush hour- what with everyone tired and all a sharp jab from an elbow can be all too mistaken as intentional. Downright uncivilized...

I'm trying to sift them through and I'll throw a few things in... If I forgot anything, please feel free to add to them